Atlassian Corp. sets IPO price range, aims to raise $370 million

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Software company Atlassian Corp wants to raise up to $370 million in what is expected to be one of the highest-valued U.S. tech company share offerings this year.

The company will sell at least 20 million shares priced at $16.50 to $18.50 each in its initial public offering, according to an updated regulatory filing. A final price will be set the day before the stock begins trading.

At the middle of the range, Atlassian would have a value of $3.6 billion, up from the $3.3 billion valuation it commanded in 2014.

Atlassian, which has offices in Sydney and San Francisco, makes software products for businesses to collaborate, communicate and manage their operations more effectively.

Founded in 2002, Atlassian is a rare tech company that has not raised any venture capital funding to support its operations and has been profitable for the last 10 years, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A secondary offering in 2014, which raised $150 million, was strictly to allow long-time employees to sell their shares. None of that funding went to support operations, according to the company.

Atlassian is expected to begin its roadshow this week, signaling a Wall Street debut before the end of what has been a lackluster year for IPOs. The U.S. IPO market is on track to raise $30 billion, the lowest level since 2009, according to IPO fund manager Renaissance Capital.

Mobile payments company Square went public earlier this month at a startling 42 percent discount from it $6 billion private market valuation a year ago.

Atlassian, however, is a different breed of “unicorn,” or tech companies valued at $1 billion or more, many of which have staggering losses.

For the fiscal year that ended in June, Atlassian had a profit of $6.8 million, about a third of what it made the prior year. The decline was due to increased investment in research and development, the company said in its IPO filing.

Profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 rose 42 percent from the same period a year ago.

Its roughly 51,000 customers include NASA, Tesla Motors and the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The company, which has more than 1,200 employees, will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “TEAM.” Goldman Sachs & Co[GSGSC.UL] and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriting banks.

Primary shareholders are co-founders and co-Chief Executives Scott Farquhar and Michael Cannon-Brookes, who each own 37.2 percent of the company.